USG, Designing Spaces and Rebuilding Together help makeover the home of a deserving grandmother

CHICAGO, IL -- USG Corporation (NYSE: USG), a leading building products company, today announced a partnership with Designing Spaces™ airing on Lifetime cable network. USG provided its support by donating building materials and employee labor to makeover the home of a deserving grandmother in North Lauderdale, FL. The Designing Spaces episode will air on Lifetime April 4 at 7:30 a.m. ET.

USG teamed up with Designing Spaces and Rebuilding Together to help give a Fort Lauderdale, FL grandmother a safe and happy home for her four grandchildren. The episode will air on Lifetime April 4 at 7:30 a.m. ET.

DesigningSpaces teamed up with Rebuilding Together, an organization that provides critical repairs to low-income homes, and identified the need to help Joy Stewart and her family. Stewart received the home makeover just in time for Valentine’s Day.

"I'm somewhere between Cloud Nine and infinity," said Stewart upon seeing her renovated home for the first time. "The kids are happy, so that makes me really happy."

After spending most of the past decade trying to keep her four grandchildren out of foster care, Stewart found herself jobless and homeless, trying to make ends meet on $360 per month. Without a place to call home, the family lived in a car, a truck and an abandoned house, but the lack of resources didn’t stop her grandchildren from making it to school every day. A Broward County Sheriff who knew one of the children from North Lauderdale Elementary learned about the family’s dire situation last December and knew something had to be done to help.

Local merchants teamed up to donate food, toys, appliances and furniture and an acquaintance of Stewart’s signed over a foreclosed house that would be renovated by Rebuilding Together and the Designing Spaces television show. The mortgage lender forgave the debt so Stewart would not have to worry about making monthly payments.

"This is truly an amazing story of perseverance, determination and display of love between a grandmother and her grandchildren," said Linda McGovern, Vice President of Marketing, USG. "Her story inspires people to never give up hope and USG wanted to find a way to contribute to that."

In the December 2016 issue, we look at some highlights of the Marmo+Mac 2016, and the new renovations of the Freemasons' Hall in London, England. We also present some new products, technology updates, machine of the month, and stone of the month.

For this issue, we are excited to share with you four features that focus on using compact and ultrathin slabs in both residential and commercial projects. As these products continue to gain popularity, we wanted to share different ideas of applications, including an upscale dining environment in the interior of a Saks Fifth Avenue.